I’m in NC right now, but here’s where I’ve been in the last few weeks:

• Australia
• Home for two days, then SC (where I lost then regained purse, including passport, ID, and credit cards)
• Home for three days, then MN
• Home for 5 hours, then CA (where Solar won a GP, Juno got STP $$, and I taught a great group of people)
• Home for three days, then NC

Coming up:

• Home for a week, during which I teach a 3-day seminar in WA
• Then to Chile for a week
• Home for a couple of weeks to get ready for AKC Nationals!!

One of the things I love about travelling all over the USA and the world teaching, aside from meeting all the neat people I get to meet, is that I get to see all sorts of different training facilities.  In Australia, we trained in a lovely big grass field.  We had to get the equipment out each day and put it away each day.  This was done efficiently and happily by all the people there, who all pitched in equally.  It was a great example of volunteerism.  In SC, I was again outdoors on grass, in a fenced area; a nice side yard area on somebody’s property.  They had a gorgeous house to go with it.  In MN, I was in a commercial/industrial building with posts, but with a great layout, and a great turf surface.  In CA, I was outdoors on grass on a 2 acre piece of property with sheep, ducks, chickens, a swimming pool – it was a home that made me homesick for a house I don’t even have! And here in NC, I’m teaching in an indoor building with fancy dust free dirt that is attached to what used to be a button factory – a great building for a dog training facility!

So, I am travelling around, getting to see all of these neat set ups.  It gives me  a lot of ideas for what I’d like MY setup to look like.  And, David is on board with the idea of looking for that perfect place for the both of us in the Portland, OR area.  So, I continue to travel and teach like mad, trying to squirrel away enough cash for a down payment on a house – and to cover what will almost certainly be a loss on our current house.  Being both self employed, David and I may not be in the best position for another home mortage loan, but we’re going to give it a go, IF the right property comes available.  Hopefully it’ll happen before the market turns up, AND before I collapse from exhaustion.  Currently, I’m teaching 8 hour days at seminars, then working up to 5 hours each night on my Online Classroom.  Hopefully soon, I’ll have my very own place to train and teach, and can stay home more often (sorry to all those who are wanting me to travel MORE! ), and can concentrate on my own dogs a bit more, as well as giving even more thorough feedback to my online students, who I am really enjoying.  I made the jump to get some dictation software, so I dictate many of my responses these days.

Anyway, so, it’s official, we’re LOOKING.  Who knows when we’ll find something.  But, we’re looking.  And I’m pretty sure that I want at least 3 acres, preferably 5-10.  A decent sized house that David and I both like, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s the training building that’s important to me  I want something that’s at least 70×130 usable feet, and although I’ll be happy with dirt for a while, I’ll eventually want to put in carpet or turf. Not because I’m prissy or a neat freak, but because on artificial surfaces, *I* have to be more precise so that my dogs don’t slip or put a foot wrong. Plus, yeah, I’d like to train in my jammies

Hopefully as soon as possible I’ll be living in OR again, nearer to this brew pub, which has a beer that for obvious reasons I’m keen to try out